Plane skids off runway at Midway airport

Nobody was injured when a Southwest Airlines jet skidded off a runway into mud at Midway Airport Tuesday afternoon, according to a Chicago Fire Department spokesman and a Southwest Airlines spokesman.

Firefighter Richard Rosado said the plane skidded off the runway at about 1:35 p.m. Monday afternoon. Passengers were taken off the plane and bused back to the terminal.

Southwest spokesman Brad Hawkins said all the passengers are off the plane and Southwest is currently working to get them to their final destinations.

In 2005, a 6-year-old boy was killed when a plane at Midway skidded off a runway, through a fence and slammed into a car in which he was riding.

Southwest Airlines released this statement:

Plane Slides Off End of Runway Upon Landing; No Injuries Reported

DALLAS—April 26, 2011—Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) confirmed this afternoon that flight #1919, scheduled service from Denver to Chicago Midway, slid off a runway upon landing at Chicago’s Midway Airport. Local officials report heavy rain in the area at the time the aircraft landed.

Initial reports are that no one was injured. The passengers have been safely deplaned from the aircraft using air stairs and have been bused to the terminal. Southwest officials will be working with passengers to get them to their final destinations.